Abstract

Cytology has greatly influenced systematic botany and has suggested a new direction for research in phylogenetic relationships.Additional evidence based on microscopical studies confirms conclusions reached through gross morphological characters. Appliction of these new approaches has provided for a better under-standing of cerain taxa and offers keys to clarification of the interrelationships among the groups concerned. This part of systematics is based on the living plant. It is a means of relating the field to the vast numbers of herbarium sheets deposited in the ordinary herbarium. The object of the present series is to fill gaps in the chromosome counts of species occurring in temperate countries by similar studies on individuals destributed in the subtropics and tropics. Many regions of these zones offer opportunities for intensive investigation. In this connection, the island of Taiwan is in a key position in Asia. It is situated about halfway between the Kuriles in the north and the Indo-Malayan Archipelagos in the south.